Since I started this website, many folks have asked me why I call myself a “gourmet’. Good question! Do they ask because they think I’m a snob or is it that they don’t know the meaning of the word?
I have known the meaning of the word for many years, I know I’m a gourmet, and I’ve been one as long as I can remember. But now, I’d better research the word to make sure I wasn’t wrong about its meaning.
Both Funk & Wagnalls and Webster’s Dictionaries say that a gourmet is “a connoisseur of good food and drink”.
More updated Wikipedia says a gourmet is “a person with defined or discriminating taste or one who is knowledgeable in the art of food and food preparation.” In ancient France where the word originated, it was said that ” A gourmet makes a meal beautiful, tasteful and memorable“.
My favorite definition is also from Wikipedia, “gourmet is a cultural idea associated with culinary arts of fine food and wine – which is characterized by elaborate preparation and presentations of large meals of small, often quite rich courses.”
Several food sites boast their gourmet services as “stylish and carefully decorated with artistic flare.”
OK, I’ve got it -take this test and if you can answer these questions with “yes”, you are a gourmet!
1. Do you know how to properly pronounce “gourmet”?
2. Do you prefer some wines over others?
3. Can you tell when your dinner has been prepared especially for you?
4. Are you impressed when your dinner looks as good as it tastes?
5. Can you remember where and when you had a really fine meal?
6. Can you taste and smell the difference in many herbs and spices?
7. Do you know how to prepare and serve a special dish that receives compliments?
8. If you were dining in a fine restaurant, would you ask what the house specialty is?
9. Do you collect cookbooks?
10. Do you know fine food when you taste it?
If you answered “Yes” to 8 or 10 questions, you’re a “GOURMET”! Congratulations!
It’s beautiful to find people who share the same passion for delicacy and taste, and who is always eager to improve their enjoying skills, sharpen their senses and try to find new sensations.
Regarding the term “gourmet”. The 1977 edition of the New Larousse Gastronomique reads: “GOURMET – Formerly, the word gourmet was never used in the inexact sense which is current nowadays. The gourmet, whose full title was courtier-gourmet-piqueur, was not a gourmand, in other words a connossieur of good things, but rather a sworn official, charged with the duty of tasting wines and spirits. Gourmets-piqueurs were once part of a confraternity. Nowadays they are organised into syndicates”.
As well, the entry for gourmand (which is really interesting), reads:
“GOURMAND, GOURMANDISE – Many people take the word ‘gourmandism’ to be synonymous with ‘gluttony’. Brillat-Savarin is sternly critical of this interpretation. ‘Authorities who thus interpret gourmandise have completely forgotten social gourmandise, which combines the elegance of Athens, the luxury of Rome and the delicacy of France. Such gourmandise orders with discernment, supervises with wisdom, savours with enthusiasm, judges with profundity. It is a precious attribute which may well be esteemed a virtue, for it is the source of our purest delights. ‘Gourmandise … is a passionate, rational and habitual preference for all that flatters the palate. ‘Gourmandise is the enemy of excess; every man who gives himself indigestion or gets drunk, runs the risk of no longer being a true gourmand. ‘Delicacy (friandise) is an essential part of gourmandise, for delicacy is the same kind of discrimination applied to delicate tidbits such as preserves, pastries and sweets…’. From the social point of view, the advantages of gourmandism are innumerable. ‘It is gourmandise’, continues Brillat-Savarin, ‘which stimulates the transport from pole to pole of wines, spirits, sugar, spices, pickles, savouries, indeed provisions of every kind, down to eggs and melons. ‘It is this which affords a livelihood to the industrious multitude of cooks, confectioners, pastry-cooks and other diversely named purveyors of food, who, in their turn, rely for the satisfaction of their needs on workers of all kinds. This gives rise, always and everywhere, to a wealth of economic activity, of which even the most lively mind cannot calculate the extent nor assess the value’ (Physiologie du goût.).
I strongly recommend a read of “Physiologie du goût” by Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brillat_Savarin). I think it can be found in French (better yet in the original language) and in English (titled ‘Physiology of Taste’) on the Project Gutenberg site.
I regard the eloquent words of Brillat-Savarin as a call to unearth the usage of the term ‘gourmand’ instead of ‘gourmet’. I think we all people of undeniable sense for good things should embrace such a change (or a return, actually).
Hello Augustine,
Thanks so much for the information. I agree that not enough of us can really embrace the meaning of “gourmet”. To get the best out of life is almost guilt-ridden, don’t you think?
I believe it is virtuous to be a gourmet, to enjoy the finest life has to offer. I”ll stand here on the top of my volcano and shout how good it feels to breathe fresh air, enjoy fine friends and luxuriate in the rich, natural foods that are so abundant in Panama. If I’m a gourmet, I’ll taste the wines, I’ll taste the spirits, I love it – it just feels good! TBG
Thanks for your reply. Joy to the good things in life from Argentina (I’ve read you have enjoyed some of our wines; good choices, by the way).
Cora, thanks for the great lessons with Lauretta. Your new kitchen is the best! I’ve been cooking lots! I answered yes to all 10 gourmet questions. Printed your 10 tips for staying thin. Love your website! Helen
Hi Helen, I just found your comment, thanks! This is all so new, it’ll take me some time to do things right. If you have any ideas for my blog, please let me know.
I’d be happy to add your fine Tango coffee to my list of favorites, hope it’s OK. Love it!
I’m trying to figure out how to make my blog THE PLACE for expert coffee info, advice, recipes, etc. Keeping checking back.
Cora
This made me smile, I got a 10 out of 10!
Hi Joy, Good job, it’s good that so how many folks love to prepare beautiful meals and enjoy fine flavors and you’re one of them. For some reason, I knew that. Cora TBG
Delivered fresh from the orchard, we smother the apples in our famous, homemade, decorate them with premium chocolate and gourmet toppings. Dieting Meal